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FOMO (also known as the Fear Of Missing Out) is an all too real feeling, especially in this age of social media. People post pictures from their exciting nights out on the town all over Facebook and instagram. Your friends and associates tweet about how much they love their new job. With all of the status updates and snapchats it’s hard not to see how much everyone else is enjoying their lives. Anyone is able to paint a picture of themselves as this person who seems to have their life completely together, and when they do this, sometimes you can’t help but wonder if you’re missing out on something. You may start to think that you should be living a life that’s just as fun and exciting as the person who posts all of their envy-inducing pictures to instagram, but that’s their life positive thinker, not yours.

And the truth of the matter is that most of us only tend to share the good parts about our lives on social media. You hardly ever see anybody posting a picture of an outfit that they look just ok in. You rarely read a status update where somebody says that they kind of like the job that they’re at. And you can probably count on one hand the number of times you’ve been on one of your social media accounts and read about somebody having a mediocre weekend. You never see these kinds of things. What you just so happen to see is the exact opposite. Nobody wants to highlight their less than exciting lives, so the only time we feel the urge to share tidbits and snippets from our lives is when we have something great to share. And when you only see the good in somebody else’s life you also may start to think that they are only experiencing good things, but even that insta-famous guy or gal that you’re following has a life where things don’t go their way 100% of the time. Their life is not perfect even though it may seem like it is through their perfectly constructed life that they portray through social media.

It’s also quite possible that this life that they are displaying to the world may not actually be the life that they want to live. Just because somebody is smiling from ear to ear in their Facebook profile picture at some hot party in an upscale part of town doesn’t mean that they are enjoying that party as much as they are letting on. It’s very possible that they are, but it’s equally as possible that they are just putting on a show that their instagram followers and Facebook friends will like. Advancements in technology are a wonderful thing. With it, we are able to achieve things like life-saving medical procedures and ways to make our planet more sustainable, but with it we also have a few things that aren’t so great. Unfortunately, with this wave of connectedness that things like Instagram and Twitter bring us, we’ve started to move towards a world where are worth seems to hinge upon how many likes our photos get and how many re-tweets we receive. We want to be liked and our social media accounts make it possible for people to tell us that they like what we’re doing almost instantaneously, which can seem like a good thing. However when you don’t get that like that you’re craving, you may start to think a little bit less of yourself, but, believe it or not, you are more than just what you display on your social media accounts.

If you’re happy with where your life is at positive thinker, then forget about FOMO. You’re not missing out on anything because you’re living the life that you want to live. It may not be as glamorous or exciting as what other people portray, but as long as you’re out there doing what you love to do then that’s all that should really matter. True happiness comes when whatever is on the inside matches what is on the outside. If spending your Saturday nights curled up by the fireplace with your favorite novel is going to make you happy then do that. Don’t try and live a life that’s full of glamour and parties just so that other people can think that you have an amazing life. Being authentic to who you are is what you should aim for positive thinker. Don’t worry about what other people are doing; worry about what you’re doing, and try to live a life that you’re going to be happy with.

Remember, “Create a life that feels good on the inside, not one that just looks good on the outside.”

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Have you ever meant someone who is truly passionate about something? This person could be passionate about his or her career or maybe even a hobby that they have. Or perhaps they just so happen to be passionate about some worthy cause like feeding starving children or stopping animal abuse. It’s even possible that you might know someone out there who is passionate about another person in their life. And when you meet these kinds of people or hear about them do you ever think about how they’re able to do the things that they do? Have you ever wondered why somebody can sit in a tree for weeks and protest against some big business that is destroying a forest full of wild life? Have you ever looked at someone and wondered how they could put so many hours into their job to the point that they fail to spend enough time with their loved ones and start to lose sleep, and yet, despite all this, they still have a smile on their face? Or have you ever heard of someone who decided to move to some poor village in a third world country so that they could spend time helping out those who don’t have as much as they do? All of these scenarios involve different people doing very different things, but they do have one common factor. All of these people are passionate about these things that they have decided to devote so much of their life to; they have a why.

And they don’t just have a why. They have a strong why. These people can’t do the things that they do without having a why that’s strong enough. You don’t leave your family, give up all of your gizmos and gadgets, and move to the middle of nowhere because you’re kind of into helping make life better for people who are living in poverty. You do it because it’s a cause that you strongly believe in.

Or you could do all of these big acts if your why wasn’t that strong, but if you did do it you probably wouldn’t be happy while doing it. Joining the Peace Corps or some other similar organization isn’t for everybody and that’s because not everyone can find a why that’s big enough and strong enough to help them through their time of service. Wanting other people to think that you’re a good person isn’t going to get you through all of those years, but truly wanting to make a difference in the lives of those who are less fortunate probably will.

And p­­­­­­ositive thinkers, you need to find your whys in everyday situations too. So figure out the reason why you’re working that job that you have. Find out the reason why you’re in the relationship with that guy or that girl. Find out the reason why you get up and go to church every Sunday. And find out the why behind why you go to the places that you go. Finding your whys aren’t just for the people who are deciding to give up their life of luxury in order to join the Peace Corps. It’s for everyone.

The chances are, if the whys behind whatever you’re doing in your everyday life can support the activities that you’re doing then you’re going to have enough energy and determination to keep up with those activities even when they get tough. If the why behind the activities that you’re doing aren’t strong enough then you have two options…

You can either choose to give up on that thing that you’re doing that doesn’t have a big enough why for you, or you can search to find another why that is big enough. And neither of these options are necessarily bad decisions for you too make. If you want to keep up with whatever activity you’re doing then finding a new why that’s stronger will help you to keep on doing that activity even when you’ve lost some interest in it. Sometimes your why needs to change and there’s nothing wrong with that because as we change our whys might have to change right along with us. And if not having a big enough why is problematic for you and if you’re unable to figure out a why that is big enough for you to keep on doing that thing that you don’t want to do then giving up on it might be what’s best for you. That thing might not be important enough for you to keep on pushing through with it, but if it is important to you, and you do want to keep on going on then make sure that you find a strong enough why that will help you to keep on moving forward. ­­­­

Positive thinker, the next time you take on something new or the next time you find yourself loathing an activity that you’re engaging in ask yourself this…

“Why am I doing this?”

“What’s driving me to do this?”

“What’s that thing that’s going to push me forward even when things start to get difficult?”

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I have a serious question that I want you to think about positive thinkers…

How happy are you with how your life is going?

If your answer to this question is that I’m pretty happy with how my life is going or some variation of this answer then good for you! Keep on doing whatever it is that you’re doing that’s making you feel that way. For those of you who aren’t too happy with how your life is going, this next part is for you.

People can live a hundred years and end up not truly living a single day of those hundred years. If you’re wondering how this can be true, then ponder this…

What’s the point in living a hundred years if you’re not going to make sure that you make those years count?

If you’re not living a life that you enjoy, then are you truly living? Your life should be full of happy moments positive thinker. And in case you didn’t know it, happiness is a state of mind, so you can choose to be happy. If you’re not happy now, then all you need to do is decide that you’re not going to take being unhappy anymore. Instead, choose happiness. And the first step to finding happiness is for you to decide to choose positivity over negativity.

You can do this by becoming more aware of how you’re feeling and when you’re feeling it. When you pay attention to your emotions as they happen to you then you can change them if you don’t like the affect that they’re having on you. For instance, if you’re having a conversation with a friend, be alert and aware of how you’re feeling the entire time that you are conversing with this individual. If the conversation makes you feel happy then allow yourself to feel happy, but if the conversation doesn’t make you feel happy then being aware of your feelings while you’re feeling them can allow you to notice that the conversation is making you unhappy. And if the conversation is making you unhappy, then you can do something to change that unhappy feeling. Don’t let the moment pass and then remember hours later that you were unhappy earlier and should have changed your way of thinking when your unhappiness was occurring. Yes you may still remember in the future to not allow that kind of event to make you feel unhappy, but if you learn how to address how you’re feeling in the moment when that unhappiness trigger occurs then you will be better equipped for future moments when something similar happens. Don’t let the unexpected and unwanted things that enter into your life stop you from being happy. We are all going to deal with bad moments. That’s just a part of life, but we don’t have to let these moments stop us from living our life with joy.

And positive thinker, part of living with joy is living a life that gives you a sense of purpose and fulfillment, not emptiness. If you wake up everyday and think to yourself that there has to be more to life than this life that you’re living, then you’re probably right. You’re not supposed to have that feeling. You shouldn’t have that feeling because you were put here on this earth to live your life to the fullest. If you’re not feeling fulfilled then it’s your job to go out into the world and find that something that makes you excited to live. And don’t live somebody else’s version of a fulfilling life. Live your version of what it should be. You’re life is a gift positive thinker and gifts are meant to bring joy to the person that they are given to, so you should enjoy your gift of life for your entire life, just like the oldest man in the world did until the day he died…

Last Tuesday Yasutaro Koide, the oldest man in the world, passed away. He was 112 years old. In August, when he became the world’s oldest man, he was quoted as saying that his secret to living a long life was due to the fact that he didn’t smoke or drink, that he tried to not overdo things, and that he tried to “live with joy.” This last part is the critical part. He chose to live life with joy. He could’ve done all of those other things, but without living with joy, those 112 years of life probably wouldn’t’ve been as fulfilling or special. We can watch what we eat and we can refrain from drinking and not overdoing things, but if we do all that just so that we can live to be over a hundred years old but we fail to live those hundred years with joy then all that other stuff doesn’t really matter.

Remember positive thinker, “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

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When you buy a gift you don’t keep it for yourself. The purpose of purchasing a gift is to give it away to someone who will like it and appreciate it. So, when a loved one has a birthday or when Christmas or some other gift-giving holiday comes around we know exactly what to do. We go into store after store looking for the perfect gift to give to that perfect person. You know that loved one’s likes and dislikes and because of this you know exactly what he or she will want to receive on this special-gift giving day. And you know that when the day comes for you to give that gift away that the happiness etched across your loved one’s face will let you know that that gift that you bought was a perfect gift for that person.

Now, you did spend all of that time picking out the perfect gift, so if you wanted to keep the gift (I mean, you did buy it after all) you could. You could keep it, but you don’t. And the reason why you don’t keep your gift is because you know that you’re supposed to share it with that special person. It wouldn’t make sense for you to put in all of that effort in to finding a perfect gift for your loved one only to keep it for yourself, so you share your perfect gift instead.

The perfect gift.

That’s what we all search for at one point in time or another. We want to find our gift. But unlike with gift giving, we are trying to find the perfect gift for ourselves. We don’t want to go around life without having a gift, so we search and we search and we search until we find that thing that drives us…our gift…our passion. We fight until we find that reason for living that will actually make us happy to wake up in the morning and start on our days. Finding our gifts and talents and using them is what helps us to live a fulfilling life, but discovering those gifts isn’t necessarily easy for everyone. Some people know all of their lives what they are truly talented at, but for others, this journey comes as a bit of a struggle. If you have discovered your gifts positive thinker, then make sure to hold on to them and use them as you go on throughout your life, but if you haven’t figured out what your gift is then don’t give up just yet. If you’re having problems discovering what your gift is then try this on for size…

A friend once told me to not give up on finding my passion in life, and she was right. I told this friend that I wasn’t feeling very fulfilled with where my life was and she told me that it didn’t make sense to walk around this world feeling unfilled, so she gave me some advice that helped her to find her passion, and I encourage you to use it too if you’re having trouble finding yours. In order to find out her passion, she first set aside some time to really examine herself. And once she set aside some time, she used that time to compile a list. The list that she made had all of the things that she did in her life that genuinely made her feel good and happy about herself. And when she made this list, she didn’t leave off anything. No item was too small. So when you make your list positive thinker, make sure not to leave anything out either. If you feel good when you’re washing the dishes then write that down, and when you write it down try and think about what exactly it is about that thing on your list that makes you feel happy in the moment that you’re experiencing it. Is it getting to work with water? Is it the fact that you get to take something dirty and grimy and make it new again? Or perhaps it may be the fact that your mind gets to wander unchecked and free during this time, and that’s when you just so happen to be at your best. It doesn’t matter what the reason is, just write it down. Taking some time to hone in on what you truly like will help you to find your gift (or gifts). And as time passes and your list finally becomes complete, you’ll end up discovering what it is that will really make you feel fulfilled because ten times out of ten the things that you’re gifted at are the things that make you the happiest while you’re experiencing them. The information that you need to find your gift is inside of you, but bringing it out of you and writing it down allows it to all be right there in front of you at the same time instead of in individual pieces and snippets in your mind. You have a gift inside of you positive thinker, all of us do, but you just have to dig deep enough to find it.

And once you find your gift, you shouldn’t keep it to yourselves because, after all, it is a gift and gifts are meant to be shared. Once we find out what our gifts are, then it’s our job to make sure that we share it with others. Do you remember how your friend’s eyes lit up when you gave him or her the perfect birthday present? Well if you could pass on that same light in your loved one’s eyes to the people you encounter simply by sharing your gift, wouldn’t you want to do that? You could have the chance to spread a bit of happiness just by doing something that you love doing and that you were born to do. All you have to do is share it.

When you’re lucky enough to discover what your gifts are make sure to embrace them because our gifts were given to us so that they could be embraced and used. But also remember, you don’t get a gift for someone just so that you can keep it to yourself. You buy it so that you can share it. So, don’t keep your gifts to yourself positive thinker. They’re met to be shared.

And remember, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”

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During your childhood and teenage years you probably thought about doing (or maybe even did) something just because someone else (who was more popular than you) told you that it was the cool thing to do. Now I’m not talking about something small like someone telling you to try a new kind of food even though it didn’t look appetizing to you. No, what I’m talking about is something that goes a lot deeper… something that if you agreed to do it would go against a belief or moral that stretched all the way down to the very core of who you are. You may not have wanted to do this thing, but because somebody that you wanted to be friends with told you that they would like you better if you did that thing that you really did not want to do you ended up succumbing to the peer pressure. You wanted to be liked (most kids do) so instead of sticking to your morals you caved in and engaged in this undesirable activity in order to gain a new “friend.”

Now, I use “friend” in quotes because this person that convinced you to participate in that activity that you really didn’t want to participate in wasn’t really your friend. Now that you’re older you realize that a real friend would have never pushed you to do something that you really and truly didn’t want to do. A friend would have accepted your answer when you told them that you didn’t want to participate in that activity and they wouldn’t’ve pushed you to do that thing that went against who you are a person simply because they valued who you were as a person and respected your beliefs.

We know that now we shouldn’t have these kinds of “friends” in our life. We know that we should only keep people in our lives that value who we are. We know this. But yet, sometimes we find ourselves surrounded by people who don’t value our worth. This world is tough and scary, and most of us don’t want to navigate through it by ourselves. Having somebody (or somebodies) there by your side to walk with you through this life makes living in this world a little less scary and a little bit more manageable.

Now and again we think that having friends in high places will make us happier, so we revert back to our childhood and teenage selves. You still want to be liked by those people with power because you think that they can help you steer through this world more clearly, so you may sometimes feel the need to change something about yourself so that you can be like these people and be liked by these people. And allow me to clarify some more. When I say people in high places, I don’t necessarily mean that you’re literally trying to befriend CEO’s and CFO’s of fortune 500 companies. What I’m saying is that I do know that there will be people that you come across who have something that you “want,” and you may be tempted to listen to what they have to say and to change yourself accordingly even though what they’re telling you to do is in stark contrast with who you are as a person. You may think that these “friends” have your best interest at heart, but anyone who is trying to change who you are at your core does not have your best interest in mind at all.

You see positive thinker, the thing about friendship is that you shouldn’t have to be around people who don’t want to be around an authentic version of yourself. If they can’t see your value then you shouldn’t want to have them as a part of your life. Nobody should make you feel like you have to change yourself in order to be liked. If you feel like you need to change who you are to keep around certain people then you can better believe that those people aren’t worth having around. You are an amazingly unique human being positive thinker. Your worth is not defined by some other person, it’s defined by you. So be happy being you because when you are confident with who you are you will start to attract people who also like you for who you are.

Wouldn’t you rather have somebody by your side who wanted you to be the best you that you can be? You should have people in your life trying to make you a better version of yourself that is still in line with who you are as person. You don’t need people who are trying to transform you into a completely different version of yourself that is void of all of what makes you you in the first place. But, if you do succumb to what these people are trying to make you in to be, you will end up feeling the effects of it, and it won’t be in a good way either. Being unauthentic takes a toll on your body mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally because when you’re unauthentic you put all of your time and energy into being someone that you weren’t meant to be and that’s difficult. But, when you have people in your life who encourage you to be you then you can truly be free because you don’t have to work hard to be you. It’s effortless and natural, and you don’t have to pretend to be something other than what you were meant to be.

Positive thinker you know that you should surround yourself with people who appreciate your worth, but sometimes we are blinded by what we think we need, and we end up forgetting temporarily that people who want us to be fake versions of ourselves will not end up doing us any good in the long run. So if you’ve happened to forget that you don’t need these kinds of people in your life then here is your reminder…

Get rid of the people in your life who don’t appreciate you for who you are positive thinker. You have worth, and everyone in your life should be able to recognize and value it.

So always remember, “When you know your value, you don’t have to beg people to like you, to be your mate, to spend time with you or to love you. Be confident in who you are.”

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There seems to be a point in a lot of our lives when we simply give up on trying to do something with our lives that will make us feel truly alive. “Reality” catches up with you somewhere down the road. You realize that you need to make a living and that pursuing that thing that makes life worth living for you won’t bring you enough money to survive, so then you start to think that because you haven’t started to live the life that you want to live yet that you won’t ever be able to live that life, and then next thing you know, you give up on that life that you once dreamed of having. And because you have given up on trying to live the life that you want to live, you end up reaching a point where you feel like you need to settle for a life that isn’t really going to make you happy. Years go by and you find yourself stuck in this life that you’re living, and you may even start to figure that you’re never going to be able to live that life that you once thought that you could live.

You may have resigned yourself to live a life of complacency, but if you want more for your life than that then it’s not too late. If you constantly find yourself doing things that make you unhappy then it’s time to throw those things out of your life in a hurry. It doesn’t make sense to participate in activities that will weigh you down because when you do that you aren’t being true to yourself. And when you aren’t being true to yourself then you aren’t being your best self, and you deserve to be your best self positive thinker. Just because up until this point you’ve felt like you needed to engage in these spirit crushing activities doesn’t mean that you have to keep on doing it. Your path isn’t written in stone, so just because you’ve been doing things that haven’t been making you happy doesn’t mean that there isn’t time left in your life to start doing things that do make you happy.

In TV and in movies, and sometimes even in real life, people decide to start living the lives that they want to live after they receive some life altering news. Their doctor tells them that they only have a few months left to live, and so they drop everything that they were doing before that was making them unhappy and they start to pursue the things that they know are going to make them happy. A lot of TV shows and movies today don’t have the best lessons in them, but when these kinds of stories about people pursuing their dreams do come across our screens, a very clear message is presented to us— you shouldn’t have to wait until the end of your life to start living the life that you want to live. You deserve to be happy for all of your life, not just at the end of it, so don’t wait until the end of your life to start living with purpose. Go out and do things now that are in line with who you are as a person so that you can start to be happy now instead of waiting to be happy later.

And I know I’ve mentioned this before, but let me remind you again. You don’t have to just give up and leave your responsibilities behind you in order to live a life that allows you to do the things that bring you happiness. If you haven’t found a way to eliminate all of the things from your life that bring you down then you should at least make some time in your life to do the things that are going to bring you up. For instance, if you find yourself scrolling down your Facebook newsfeed for hours on end then try cutting back on that so that you can use your new found extra time to start doing things that are going to fill you up with new life. If you can spend time doing things that you don’t like to do then you should definitely find time to do the things that you do actually like to do because you’re only going to end up being a better and happier version of yourself because of it.

You shouldn’t give up on living a life that brings you happiness. We weren’t put here just to survive. We were put here so that we could live. Yes you have responsibilities now, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t start being who you wanted to be before life threw all of these new challenges your way, so go out there and find that thing or things that will give you life. Life’s to short to go around not living the life that you want to live, so if you find yourself living a half life, then go out there and find something that will make your life whole again!

Remember positive thinkers, “Strive to do things that define you. Say no to the things that don’t inspire you. Say yes to everything that fuels you. It’s the only life we live. Live it to your standards.”

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We live in a world where it seems like people are constantly trying to tell us to be something other than who we are meant to be. When we hear qualities like sensitivity, compassion, passivity, tenderness, thoughtfulness, and patience we all know which gender is supposed to possess these traits. Likewise, whenever we hear characteristics like toughness, dominance, risk taking, resilience, drive, and courageousness, we also know which people should have these traits. These qualities shouldn’t be associated with just one gender, but often times they are. If a woman isn’t sensitive to the needs of those around her, she may be chastised. And if she possesses a stereotypical masculine trait then her femininity may even be called into question. The same can be said for men. A man who isn’t driven may be looked down upon for a lack of ambition. And if a man is too sensitive or thoughtful, he may be told to toughen up because he isn’t being manly enough.

Even if no one has ever personally told you that you aren’t masculine enough or you aren’t feminine enough, you may have still felt the pressure to conform to some societal idea of what it means to be a man or a woman. TV, movies, magazines, and social media constantly portray a caricature of what it means to be a man or a woman in our society, but it’s not a true picture of what masculinity or femininity truly means. Whenever you see a caricature done of somebody at a fair or at an amusement park, we never take them seriously. We know that the person doesn’t really look like the drawing, but for some reason, when we witness these caricatures of masculinity and femininity we sometimes do take them seriously. These images that are portrayed to us on a daily basis of what it means to be a man or what it means to be a woman may make us think that there is something that is the matter with us if we don’t fit into this picture. But the thing is positive thinker, there is nothing wrong with you if you don’t fit perfectly into this image. A caricature of masculinity shows us a distorted and untrue image of what it means to be a man in our society and a caricature of femininity depicts an unrealistic and unobtainable idea of what it means to be a woman, and for this reason you shouldn’t take caricatures of masculinity and femininity any more seriously than you would a caricature of yourself that was drawn by a street artist. A caricature of yourself isn’t a true depiction of who you are and neither are the caricatures of masculinity or femininity that you come across on a daily basis.

And these ideas of what it means to be a woman and what it means to be a man doesn’t stop with how we are on the inside either. We turn on the TV and see men and women with “perfect” faces and bodies. We open up a magazine and see men and women with luxurious hair and bright and shining smiles. These images have the soul purpose of trying to make us feel bad about ourselves. They are trying to tell us that our lips aren’t big enough, our waists aren’t small enough, our legs aren’t long enough, and our hair isn’t full enough, or they make us think that our muscles aren’t big enough, our height isn’t tall enough, and our shoulders aren’t broad enough, but this isn’t true either. There is no perfect way that a woman should look despite what we see on TV and there is no perfect way that a man should look despite what we see when we look at an ad in the magazine. Perfection isn’t achieved by adhering to some societal notion of what it means to be perfect. You are perfect just by being who you are.

We aren’t made from a cookie cutter, so we aren’t all the same. All the women in the world were not cut from the same female cookie cutter, nor were all the men cut from the same male cookie cutter. We’re different and that’s what makes us so great. We don’t have to fit into some stereotype of what it means to be female or male, black or white, Christian or atheist, Republican, Democrat, or indifferent because you can be these things regardless of whether or not you can check off every trait or characteristic that is associated with whatever group you are a part of.

Positive thinker, there’s always going to be somebody out there telling you that you need to act and look a certain way in order for people to like you. You may be too sensitive or you may be too tough, but if that’s who you are and if you’re comfortable with being that way then it shouldn’t matter what anybody else thinks. And you may not be a size zero or have wash board abs, but that shouldn’t matter either because you are great just the way you are.

You’re not made from a cookie cutter positive thinker, and that makes you unique, so don’t try and be anybody other than who you think you are supposed to be.

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There are over 7 billion people on this planet, and each and every single one of these people is different from the next. There are not two people who are exactly 100% the same. We have different eyes, hair, lips, hands, feet, and skin. We come in different shapes and sizes. We have different cultures and religions and we speak different languages. There are many individual pieces that combine together to make one person whole and while some people may share the same puzzle pieces, no two people have all of the same pieces in common, which inevitably makes us different. And that is definitely a good thing.

Could you imagine having someone in your life that was completely and totally like you? How would you feel knowing that there was somebody who looked just like you from head to toe? Would you like to have someone else in your life who thought exactly the way you thought, acted the same way you acted, laughed the way you laugh, spoke the way you spoke, dressed the way you dressed, and believed every single thing that you believe? I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want that person around. There would be something very unsettling about having someone who was exactly like me in every single way hanging around. It wouldn’t be very fun because part of what makes interacting with other people so interesting are the differences that we have, and if we didn’t have any differences among us and we tried to fit in with everybody then each one of us would eventually start to lose what makes us special.

And sometimes trying to fit in seems appealing to us. We think it will make life easier, so then we start to do things that will make us more like everyone else. We want to fit in so badly, that we start to be untrue to who we are. We change the way that we act when somebody tells us that it’s not right for us to act the way that we act. We change our hair and the way that we dress when another person tells us that our hair and clothes are inappropriate. We change the way we speak, when how we speak is a direct result of our experiences and environment that helped to make and shape us to be who we are.

Sometimes we forget that it is our differences that make us valuable. It is our differences that make life exciting. It is our differences that make us who we are, so instead of spurning our differences we should welcome our uniqueness and hold on to it.

Embrace your individuality positive thinker. As long as you’re not hurting anyone, it shouldn’t matter what other people think about how you act and behave because other people shouldn’t tell you how to live your life. It is your life after all, and no one knows how to live it better than you.

Only you know if you’re being true to yourself.

No one else can make that decision for you.

And if you’re not being yourself positive thinker, then try stepping into your own skin for a change.

Just imagine how much better you’d like yourself if you tried being you instead of somebody else’s version of you. If you are willing to put in energy into being someone other than you, then why not try putting the same energy into trying to be yourself. Making the decision to be yourself instead of trying to be someone else is a freeing decision to make, so make the decision today to stop letting other people tell you who you should be.

Don’t let other people tell you that you’re not good enough, when you are good enough just by being you.

If you’re a shy, quiet, introverted, nerdy, pianist, then be that person. If you’re a loud, extroverted, glass half-full, sassy, chemist then be that person, and if you’re a surly, messy, realistic, energetic, entrepreneur then be that.

Don’t be afraid to be different. Don’t be afraid to be you. And in the words of the beloved children’s book author Dr. Seuss: “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”

Be you positive thinker, because there’s nobody else out there who can do it better than you.